Western Montana in the Fall

Autumn is a great time to visit western Montana. From Canada south to the Idaho border, a string of towns and cities—Kalispell, Missoula, Stevensville, Hamilton—offer good lodging and RV parks for day trips into the river valleys and mountainsides.

Now is when the colors in the forest change to gold, yellow and copper as aspen, cottonwoods and tamaracks prepare for the coming winter.

This is also a time to see the glaciers in Glacier National Park before the heavy snows arrive. Western Montana is known as Glacier Country, and there are 25 glaciers within the park. To qualify as a glacier, the ice must be moving, cover at least 25 acres and be at least 100 feet thick. By those standards, the park used to have 150 glaciers; studies suggest they all will be gone by 2030.

With the region’s mild fall days, beautiful foliage and wide-open roads, autumn is a brilliant time to experience all the region has to offer.